Saturday, May 4, 2013

Part VIII: The Dark Blue Jacket's Definitive History of the CBJ; Completus Occidentali

When we last left this history, the
2012-13 season was hanging in the balance due to a labor impasse, I still had
my original arthritic knees, and the
Columbus Blue Jackets were firmly and definitely ‘THE LAST PLACE TEAM’
(emphasis not added) in the minds of the hockey intelligentsia. By the time the dust settled after an
abbreviated 2012-13 season, the CBJ players and coaches had treated the fans to
one of the best story lines in all of hockey, coming a mere point short of
making the playoffs after a furious charge through the western conference. One wonders if in future segments of this
history whether we will look back at the courage and tenacity of this year’s
roster as a turning point in the franchise’s fortunes.

Labor
Peace

At long last, after months of tooth
grinding frustration by fans, the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to a collective
bargaining agreement in early January.
The new agreement called for an abbreviated 2012-13 season of 48 games
following a one week training camp. This
arrangement did not bode well for the CBJ, as the short training camp would not
allow much time for the sweeping roster changes to jell. But labor peace brought a more seismic change
to the Blue Jackets. The 2012-13 season
was to be the last that the CBJ would play in the Western Conference. In 2013-14 the CBJ would be playing in the
Eastern Conference. In their division
would be Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey,
Philadelphia, Washington and Carolina.
Out of the proverbial frying pan of the Central Division of the Western
Conference into the fire of the Leaders, er, uh, Legends, er, uh, Atlantic, oh,
okay, Division D of the Eastern Conference (yet to be officially named). This is a huge benefit to the CBJ fans, for
who the number of away games that start at 7 PM will go up drastically as opposed
to the 10 and 10:30 PM starts. In that
regard, we will have no more of those than the rest of the league, as the 2012-14
season calls for a home and away with every team in the league. In addition, our fellow Atlantic Division
(estimated name) teams are much more natural rivals then most of our current
Western Conference brethren. Of course
if you want to be a rival, you have to be more than a door mat, which leads us
to the 2012-13 season.

The
Run-Up to 2012-13

A significant change, not yet been
mentioned in this history, prior to the 2012-13 season that ultimately had a
huge impact outcome of the season occurred in the coaching ranks. Todd Richards had been affirmed as the Head
Coach over the summer. The only coaches
that Richards retained were goaltender coach Ian Clark and young Dan
Hinote. Gone were the inexperienced
coaches of 2011-12. In their place,
Richards hired Craig Hartsburg as Associate Coach, and Keith Acton as an
assistant coach. These additions brought
decades of experience to the coaching ranks, which soon bore fruit. Using the time afforded to them by the
lockout, this group of experienced coaches reviewed their roster and forged a
tight checking system that fit the makeup of their team. All that remained was to be able to implement
the system.

The other important part of the run
up to the 2012-13 season was the relationship established with our AHL partner
the Springfield Falcons. Brad Larsen was
hired as the head coach, and he had an opportunity to confer with the NHL coaches. A system was decided upon, and there was
unity of system between Springfield and Columbus. Larsen proved to be an excellent choice, and
with a large number young players slotted into the AHL do to the labor woes of
the NHL, he had a lot of talent at his disposal. Larsen also had the unusual luxury of a full
AHL training camp with a set roster, and he put the time to good use. The ‘Hatched and Hungry’ Falcons roared out
of the gate, and in spite of ultimately losing a lot of talent to the NHL, they
kept to their winning ways, ultimately capturing the AHL Northeast Division
title. They are currently in their
playoff series as I write. It is
difficult to overstate the importance of the job Larsen did in preparing
players to come to the NHL ready to go, which was amply demonstrated over and
over again in the NHL 2012-13 season.

Hurry
up! Let’s Play Hockey! The 2012-13
Season

With a new collective bargaining
agreement in hand, the NHL quickly rushed its 30 clubs into a weeklong training
camp with no exhibition games. On
January 19, 2013 the puck dropped on the 2012-13 season. The Blue Jackets started the season off right
with a shootout win in Nashville. After
coming home and losing to the Redwings in a shoot out on a highlight reel move
by Brunner, the CBJ went on a quick
road trip for back to back games against the Coyotes and Avalanche. The Coyotes were intent on proving which team
had the better work ethic, and walked all over the Jackets in a 5-1 win. The next night the Jackets succumbed to the lure
of trying to run with the Avs, and lost 4-0 in the first game they were shut
out in the season.

The CBJ came home from this road
trip to face the Blackhawks, who were coming out of the gate on what was to be
a franchise record winning streak. The
CBJ played them tight, but lost 3-2, before beating Dallas 2-1 in the first
night of a back to back. On the second
night of the back to back they went to Minnesota and lost 3-2 to the Wild. Following the Wild game the CBJ came back
home for a 6 game home stand starting on the last day of January.

On the first date of the home stand,
St. Louis handed the CBJ a 4-1 loss, but in the next game the Jackets beat a
battered Redwings team 4-2. This
concluded the first two weeks of the season, in which the Blue Jackets played 9
games in 14 days, establishing a trend of playing more games than most everyone
in the league, that would last until the final day of the season, and
ultimately haunt the team (that’s foreshadowing there folks). For instance, the LA Kings only played 7
games over that stretch, whereas the CBJ had already played 2 back to backs,
one of which was on the road.

So the CBJ emerge from the first two
weeks of the season with a 3-5-1 record, which is kinda respectable considering
the number of games played, the amount of change in the roster, and the scant
time available to get the team to jell. At
this point in time there was no real number one goal tender, as Mason and
Bobrovsky were still trading off in the goal.
In addition, the team was prone to mistakes, and during this period
Richards was frequently quoted as saying they did not give a 60 minute
effort. In addition, early on Bobrovsky
had shown a tendency to let in an early soft goal in the first couple of
minutes of a game. He often clamped down
after that, and the team learned that even if the other team scored first that
it did not necessarily mean they were going to score a bunch on Bob.

Hitting
Bottom

February was a rough month for the
CBJ in the 2012-13 season. Though
February started with a win over Detroit, home losses to LA, Calgary in OT, and
Edmonton followed in rapid succession.
Surprisingly, this was followed by a 6-2 butt whipping that they laid on
the San Jose Sharks. Unfortunately, that
left the CBJ only going 2-3-1 over a 6 game home stand. And, the road loomed once again. The 6 game road trip had the Jackets bouncing
around over time zones like a super ball, with games in LA, Phoenix, and Anaheim,
to start the trip, followed by Detroit, St. Louis and Chicago at the end of the
trip. The Jackets went 1-5 on this trip,
with the sole win coming over Detroit, a 3-2 win at the Joe when Vinny Prospal scored with 24.7 seconds remaining in the game. This was a classic game of early season
Bobrovsky. He gave up a goal in the
first 18 seconds, and by the 3 minute mark the Redwings had 2 goals. The defense and Bob tightened, and shut the
‘Wings out the rest of the way, while the CBJ crawled back into the game with a
power play goal and a greasy Dorsett goal, to set up Vinny’s heroics.

The Jackets limped back home after
this road trip, and then lost 5-4 in overtime to Dallas to finish the month. The Blue Jackets finished the month of
February 5-12-3, and were dead last in the NHL.
Visions of lottery draft picks danced in our heads. But slowly, and surely this team was gathering
momentum, as 5 of the 6 preceding road games were one goal games. The Jackets were close and working hard at
turning it around. At this point, as a
fan, it was safe to say that the games were entertaining even if they were not
rewarding. That part of the fan
experience was about to change.

Along with the change building
slowly on the ice, the organization was undergoing changes as well. On February 12, 2013, General Manager Scott
Howson was relieved of his duties.
Howson was the architect of the franchises sole appearance in the
playoffs, and helped to solidify depth in the organization. Unfortunately, he made an unwise coaching
choice, and thus became the architect of a stunning reversal of fortune for the
franchise, culminating in a cap team finishing dead last in the league. With the hiring of Craig Patrick in December,
2011, Howson began to look at talent differently, as Patrick urged him to
evaluate talent based on the character of the player. In that, Howson proved to be adept, and he
managed to make the Nash trade on reasonable terms, thus gutting the heart out
of a New York Rangers team that had looked ‘one scorer away from the cup’. While the Rangers did manage to make the
playoffs in the eighth seed, they sorely missed the character players now
playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
As of this writing, Howson has assumed the position of Assistant General
Manager of the Edmonton Oilers, and in that position I wish him well.

New GM Jarmo Kekalainen

On February 13, 2013 President of
Hockey Operations John Davidson hired Jarmo Kekalainen as General Manager. Jarmo had been serving as GM for the Jokerit
Team in the Finnish Elite League, and became the first European born General
Manager in the National Hockey League.
Davidson had worked with Kekalainen extensively in St. Louis, and was
well aware of what he brought to the table.
In a development that was distinctly unfamiliar for long time Blue
Jackets fans, this move was widely hailed across the league as an excellent
move. In off the record comments, some
Western Conference executives stated the opinion that he was an arrogant prick,
which made me like the selection even better.
It’s ok if that’s how the opposition views our General Manager. (Editor’s
note: If the CBJ don’t use umlauts, I’m not gonna either)

Kekalainen came with a reputation
for being a shrewd judge of talent, so sitting in last place at the end of
February, with 3 first round draft picks in the 2013 draft made you feel pretty
good about our prospects, even if the team wasn’t doing too well. But all of that was about to change.

Miracle
March

As March rolled in like a lion, the
CBJ were sitting 30th in the league, playing entertaining hockey and
ending up on the wrong side of close games.
Long suffering fans were content with entertaining hockey, and visions
of lottery picks in June danced in our heads.
And then the worm turned, and we may find that March of 2013 was a
pivotal month in franchise history. The
beauty of March was that there was an extended home stand, 9 home games in 10,
starting with the last game of February.
And after losing the first two games of the home stand in overtime, the
CBJ began an extended run of winning hockey.

As mentioned above, the end of
February, and the start of the home stand was an overtime loss to Dallas. This launched a franchise record of 12
consecutive games in which the Blue Jackets at least got a point. March began with an overtime loss to Chicago,
followed by a shoot out win against Edmonton,
and an overtime win against Vancouver when Matt Calvert scored with 56
seconds in overtime.

Perhaps a defining moment in the 2012-13 season

That success was followed by a
moment that seemed to define the team’s confidence in itself. The next game was the first of a home and
home, back to back series with the Detroit Redwings. In the first game of the series, with the CBJ
wearing their road whites at home at the request of the Redwings, Sergei
Bobrovsky pitched his first career shutout, and the CBJ won 3-0. The game was ‘marred’ (snicker) by an
incident late in the game, where Vinny Prospal took an unsportsmanlike conduct
penalty for pointing at the scoreboard following a late third period
scrum. This moment came to be famous,
and showed that the players had supreme confidence that the Blue Jackets were a
team that could beat anyone on any given day.
The team validated Vinny’s confidence by going to Detroit the next day
and beating Detroit at the Joe in a shootout, with Joey and Matt Calvert
converting for the win.

Confidence was high among the
players as the team returned to Nationwide Arena and commenced stalking the
eighth place position in the standings.
Shoot out losses to powerful Vancouver and Chicago teams were followed
by a 1-0 shootout win against Phoenix in which both goal tenders earned a
shutout, Bob’s second of his career. The
Jackets then closed out the long home stand with wins over Nashville and
Calgary. This left them with an 8-0-4
record for the period of the long home stand, and the aforementioned franchise
point streak of 12 games.

The CBJ then went out on a four game
road trip, losing to Nashville in a game in which a well rested Predators squad
seemed to have the CBJ’s number. Then
it was out to the western Canadian swing of Vancouver, Edmonton and
Calgary. The CBJ lost the first game to
Vancouver in a shootout, in which both goal tenders once again pitched
shutouts, Bobrovsky’s third career shutout.
Two days later, the CBJ lit up the Oilers for four goals, but the Oilers
came back and scored a couple of goals late in the third period to take the
game 6-4. This game included the
controversial wave off of a goal by Matt Calvert for a ‘distinct kicking
motion’ as he was hauled off his feet in the crease. Further comment at this point would just make
me angry if I think about it, so time to move on. The CBJ followed up this disappointing finish
with a solid game against a fragile Calgary team, winning 6-4. This left the CBJ getting only 3 of a
possible 8 points on the road, which was a disappointing result when they
played pretty well in 3 of the 4 games.

The CBJ closed out March by
returning to Nationwide Arena and beating the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in overtime when
Mark Letestu scored late in the overtime period. More importantly, the two points garnered in
this game moved the CBJ into sole possession of 8th place in the
Western Conference with 12 games left to play.
Using their 9-2-5 record in the month of March, the Blue Jackets had
vaulted from last place to playoff position in one month, capturing the
attention of NHL audiences everywhere.

The month of March also featured
Sergei Bobrovsky seizing the reins of the number 1 goal tender position. Bobrovsky was absolutely en fuego, and recorded the first 3 shutouts of his career. He also captured the hearts of Blue Jackets
fans, as the swelling crowds responded to the team’s momentum.

During this pivotal month in the
2012-13 season, the CBJ took full advantage of a lengthy home stand. Historically, we have often seen the Blue
Jackets squander such opportunities with indifferent play. The 2012-13 team made the home stand special
with their hard working style, converting their effort into success. Solid goal tending is a good thing to have by
the way, in case you had noticed.

Trade
Deadline

One of the best things about being
home on disability following knee replacement surgery is that you don’t have to
pretend to be productive for several hours on the trade deadline before the
tension takes over and you bail out and go home to watch the Twitter feed (I
have a great boss!). This year I was
glued to a largely inactive Twitter feed all day with no shame. And while there was general lamenting of the
slow pace of the trading, it wasn’t that bad of a way to spend the day.

With a little bit less than an hour
left before the trade deadline, the news came that the CBJ have traded Steve
Mason to the Philadelphia Flyers for back up Michael Leighton and a draft pick
in 2014. In consideration, this was a
good trade for the CBJ. Mason was an RFA
at the end of the year, and we were not going to give him a qualifying
offer. This way we secured the asset,
and perhaps benefitted. Mason has made
real steps towards claiming the starting goal tender position in Philadelphia
since the trade deadline, and I wish him well against all other Eastern
Conference Opponents. I wish him white
hot death when he is playing against us, but that’s a fan thing.

As Blue Jackets fans sat nodding
over their phones, ipads, laptops, or computers that this was a good trade, there
came the single electrifying tweet: Gaborik to Columbus. After frenzied scrambling for information,
right at the trade deadline came the news that the Blue Jackets had traded
Center Derick Brassard, Defenseman John Moore, and injured winger Derek Dorsett
(sob! snif!) for winger Marian Gaborik of the New York Rangers, a perennial
goal scorer. Davidson and Kekalainen had
looked over the landscape, surveyed their team’s gutsy climb from last place to
eighth place in the month of March, and decided that reinforcements were
appropriate.

This was a stunning move that
shocked both the fan base and the NHL, but sent a shot out that the CBJ were
serious about this winning stuff. In
addition, Kekalainen acquired Blake Comeau from Calgary for low round draft picks. Comeau would play important minutes as
injuries mounted down the stretch.

The CBJ paid dearly for Gaborik.
Gone were 3 players who were part of the fabric of the team. Brassard still has the potential to be a
gifted center, but John Moore will play important minutes for the Rangers , as
he did for us. Once he is healed from
his injury, Derek Dorsett will fill that heart and soul role for the Rangers
that he always did for us. DD will be
the subject of some future post regarding all he is and was for the CBJ.

Gaborik is an elite talent, and
raises the speed level of the forward group significantly. It was a trade that should help both teams.

An
April for the Ages

There is no finer thing in hockey
fandom than to be in a playoff race late in the season. Scoreboard watching becomes an obsession, the
games take on more weight, and the TV becomes accustomed to epithets being
hurled at it during away games. The
Columbus Blue Jackets gave their fans a solid taste of this joy, and the fans
will surely thirst for more. Beginning
April in sole possession of eighth place, but with other team’s ‘games in hand’
starting to lurk ominously in the conversation, the team girded itself for the
playoff push.

The Jackets began April with a home
win over Nashville, and then traveled to St. Louis where the Blues handled the
CBJ 3-1. The next game, a home game
against Minnesota, was one of the few games in the year where the team just
didn’t seem to show up, and they lost 3-0 to the Wild, in a game that would
come back to haunt them in a most important way. The players seeming upset by their poor performance
took it out on the next opponents, with a 4-0 shutout of the San Jose Sharks,
and 4-1 win over St. Louis. At this
point, the NHL schedulers took over.
These two games were the final home games for the 2012-13 season, save
for the last game of the season. The
next 6 games were on the road, which had not been kind to the CBJ. If they wanted to remain in the playoff race
they would have to do so on the road.

Even the most die-hard Blue Jacket
fan could not have envisioned what transpired next. Personally, I thought their chances dim as
they went out on the road. I did not
reckon with the resolve, determination, and confidence of the Jackets players
however, and they soon proved me wrong.
Time and again, with games on the line, the Jackets found ways to win
them and keep their hopes alive.

The first road game was against the
Wild, but the CBJ persevered to win a 3-2 shootout win in spite of the loss of
Artem Anisimov for the remainder of the road trip from a check to the
head. The points gained in this win
pulled the CBJ into a 3 way tie for eighth place with Detroit and Dallas. The next game was in Colorado, and the CBJ
took a late penalty in the game and Colorado scored on the power play to take
the lead with only 2 minutes left in the game.
However, 30 seconds later Joey laid a pass out into space for Umberger,
who went 5 hole for the goal to tie the game.
A few minutes later, Nick Foligno hammered home the game winner in
overtime, and the CBJ kept pace in the west.

The next game found the CBJ at
Anaheim going into another overtime game.
Foligno struck again, this time hitting Fedor Tyutin at the edge of the
crease for a deflection for the game winner in overtime. The CBJ once again climbed into sole
possession of eighth place. The Ducks
game was the first game of a rugged California back to back. The next night saw
the CBJ in action against the LA Kings.
In spite of Dalton Prout scoring his first career goal, the CBJ could
not do anything against the Kings, and lost 2-1.

With their backs to the wall, the
CBJ traveled to San Jose to take on a Sharks team that they had recently beaten
handily, and was willing to repay the favor to the CBJ. The Jackets jumped on the Sharks early, but
they responded in the third period, scoring two goals to tie the game at
3-3. With time winding down in
regulation, Ryan Johansen pounced on a turnover forced by Blake Comeau’s
forecheck. Joey walked down the high
slot and buried the game winner with a wicked wrister, to keep the Jackets’
playoff hopes alive.

The CBJ returned home after the
Sharks game, and had to sit and watch while other teams played their games in
hand. With absolutely no help to be had
in the west the Jackets had to sit and watch Detroit go on a season ending
winning streak that would ultimately propel them into 7th place in
the West. Minnesota was struggling down
the stretch, and all of a sudden seemed the most likely candidate to be
passed.

With this as a back drop, the Blue
Jackets traveled to Dallas to take on the Stars in the pivotal final game of
the road trip. This was a game so
important in franchise history that our colleagues over on the Union Blue blog
launched a ‘money on the board’ campaign so the players would know how much the
fans valued the game. Ultimately, more
than $5,000 was committed to charity to urge the CBJ on to victory. Cam Atkinson scored early and late, to
preserve the 3-1 win for the CBJ and set up the wild home finale.

A
Taste of What it Can Be

Saturday, April 27, 2013 was a
perfect day for a hockey game in Columbus.
The weather was warm as a standing room only crowd gathered in the Arena
District with the playoffs on the line.
A Blue Jackets win, and a loss by Detroit in Dallas, or an overtime loss
by Minnesota in Colorado would propel the Blue Jackets into the playoffs for
the second time. Everything was on the
line, in a pivotal final game. As a
hockey fan, you can’t really ask for something more exciting in the regular
season.

I hope the CBJ make the playoffs!

The final game against the Nashville
Predators even featured Barry Trotz, the Nashville coach, coming out before the
game and saying he hoped the Blue Jackets made it to the playoffs. But he also made sure his team was ready to
play the spoiler, and the Preds carried a lot of the early play. Nashville finally took a one goal lead in the
second period. The roaring home crowd
did not disappoint, and stayed in the game until the dam finally broke late in
the third period. When Dubinsky scored,
the CBJ finally stopped squeezing their sticks and began playing. Soon thereafter Jack Johnson bounced one in
off Weber, the Jackets had the lead, and the crowd was deafening. Finally, an empty net goal sealed the deal,
and the raucous crowd saluted the players.
With chants of ‘MVP, MVP’ raining down on Bobrovsky as he gave away his
jersey, the team and the crowd retired to watch the end of the other
games. Alas for the good guys, Detroit
won in Dallas, and Minnesota won in Colorado, leaving the CBJ eliminated from
the playoffs by a single point.

In the early aftermath of this
season, it is difficult to say what was accomplished. Our young core of players got a taste of what
it takes to make a run to the playoffs. Our
veterans proved to be up to the leadership task. JD and Jarmo got an opportunity to see what
an engaged Nationwide Arena looks like, and what an awesome thing that can
be. The degree to which that carries
over to next year is the subject for a future installment.

There is no doubt that the 2012-13
Blue Jackets put together the greatest run of hockey in franchise history. The set a record for most consecutive points,
but their spirited and determined push from last place towards a playoff berth
captured the hearts and minds of NHL fans everywhere like no other Jackets team
has done. As a fan, I am extremely
pleased, and proud of what the group accomplished. Challenges remain going forward, as they
always do, but this group laid it all on the line and performed great feats. They have earned an endearing place in the
heart of this season ticket holder for their sheer gumption, and for the fun
they had along the way. This was a group
that could combine fun with hard work, and that is a potent combination.

So to the 2012-13 Columbus Blue
Jackets, players and coaches, THANK YOU! It makes me proud to be a Jackets fan!

The
Numbers, 2012-13

There were some striking changes in
some statistical numbers for the 2012-13 CBJ along with some other surprising
commonalities. Vinny Prospal lead the
team in points with 30, following his 45 point season in 2011-12. Vinny notched 12 goals and 18 assists to
finish second in goal scoring and in a three way tie for the assist lead with
Fedor Tyutin and Brandon Dubinsky. After
having Rick Nash lead the team in goals for eight straight years, Mark Letestu
ended up leading the 2012-13 Blue Jackets in goals with 13. Vinny tied JamesWisniewski in power play goals with 4.
Mark Letestu led the team in shorthanded goals with 2.

Jack Johnson led defensemen with
Time on Ice (TOI) with 25:58 per game.
Brandon Dubinsky led forwards in TOI with 18:24. Dalton Prout lead the team in the +/-
statistic with +15. Cam Atkinson lead
forwards in +/- with +9. Derek MacKenzie
lead the team in faceoff win percentage with 59.4 followed closely by Brandon
Dubinsky at 58.3.

Sergei Bobrovsky finished the season
with a 21-11-6 record, with a save percentage of .932 and a Goals Against
Average (GAA) of 2.00 in 38 games played.
These are stellar numbers, worthy of Vezina Trophy consideration for the
top goaltender in the NHL. The .932 save
percentage sets a franchise record, beating Curtis Sanford’s .911 and the GAA
of 2.00 beats Sanford’s franchise record of 2.60. Bobrovsky left an immediate impact on the
franchise’s record books.

Completus occidentali

The heading for this section is the
Latin translation for ‘finished in the West’(at least according to my phone). One of the other unique features of this
season is that the Blue Jackets are moving to the Eastern Conference next year. While the teams in the East are going to
provide new and different challenges for the CBJ, this seems like a good time
to reflect what was accomplished in the West.

First and foremost, there is now an
NHL hockey franchise in Columbus. It is
established, has gone through growing pains, and in spite of those pains is in
a position of stability. The financial
arrangements have been made for the long term health of the club, and the Arena
District has emerged with Nationwide Arena and its crowds as the centerpiece of
an entertainment district that is the envy of many cities. It is certainly widely studied by other areas
looking to build facilities.

Over the 12 seasons played in the
Western Conference, the Columbus Blue Jackets played 932 regular season games
and 4 playoff games. Their record was a
combined 366 wins, 458 losses, and 108 overtime losses/ties in the regular
season. The team’s winning percentage in
the Western Conference was 0.451 overall.
The team posted two seasons that were above .500 in winning percentage,
2008-09 with a .561 percentage, and the 2012-13 team with a franchise record
.573 score. The next closest year was
the 2010-11 team with a .494 winning percentage.

After years of getting beat up in
the rugged Central Division of the Western Conference, the Blue Jackets finally
had a winning record in the Division in their last year, going 9-6-3 in the
Division with a .583 winning percentage in the Division.

The franchise’s history in the west
has been a long slow climb to respectability, followed by setbacks that damaged
that respectability. This year’s team
took great strides in restoring that reputation, and we will need to carry it
forward into the East next year.

I have always liked being in the
Western Conference, which I perceive to be tougher at this time in
history. But I will be extremely happy
to get rid of the bulk of those western, late night road games. Those
were killers for fans in the Eastern Time zone.
Going forward, we will have no more of those games than anyone else in
the NHL. And I look forward to those 7
PM road games.

When next we take up this history,
it will be against a different backdrop.